There are
numerous ways to approach thinking about The
Salesman, a deceptively simple film from Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi
and the winner of Best Foreign film at this year’s Academy Awards. Although
resembling a basic revenge narrative, it is also a film that is distinctly
Iranian. At the same time, the film comments on the differences between East
and West in the depiction of an Iranian stage adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “Death
of a Salesman.” But the beauty of Farhadi’s work is not simply that it is a
revenge narrative, nor that it has commentary on cultural differences, but in
the way that it accomplishes both of these tasks with subtlety and ambiguity.
Even as I continue to think about the end, I am constantly faced with shifting
certainty about the events in the film and their meaning.

Disaster films
are a difficult sub-genre, relying on the effectiveness of filmmaking to build
suspense even when the narrative itself rarely offers many surprises. If it is
a disaster film about tornados, the audience is anticipating the specific
destruction they will bring. Tunnel
has an even harder task, limiting the cast and the number of things that can
happen in a confined space after a tunnel collapses as our protagonist is
driving through it. In fact, only the first portion of the film actually feels
like a disaster movie, with much of the run-time being more of a confined
survival narrative.

Even the best
televisions shows need to find ways to reinvent themselves after the first few
seasons, otherwise it begins to feel repetitive and formulaic. Despite
primarily being a comedy based series, “Orange
is the New Black” made some boldly dramatic moves in season four, not afraid to
change the dynamic of the show and even the cast. This was also the season that
the prison series decided to enter the discussion of current events and social
issues, specifically relevant to the minorities making up a majority of the
inmates.

The Expendables is a franchise that was
both ahead of its time while simultaneously being dated. Often humorous, occasionally
unintentionally, The Expendables
feels like an 80’s action film in many ways, which is fitting considering the
impressive cast of veteran action stars. At the same time it stylistically
belongs to another decade, this franchise was also the first to benefit from
the novelty of a beefed-up ensemble cast of movie stars. Simply put, without The Expendables, there may never have
been The Avengers. It also served as
a return for Sylvester Stallone, both as an action star and as a filmmaker,
coming on the heels of revivals of several of his most popular 80’s franchises
(Rambo, Rocky Balboa).